Assessing transfer of stimulus control procedures across learners with autism

Tact instruction for children with autism spectrum disorder: A review

Tacts facilitate social interaction, and a strong tact repertoire can lead to the development of other verbal operants. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the development of a tact repertoire can reduce stereotypical and repetitive language and increase social communication, as functional language may reduce the amount of stereotypical vocal behavior that children engage in. However, teaching tact repertoires to children with ASD that maintain and generalize is difficult. The current study reviewed tact interventions for children with ASD from 2000 to 2019 to provide an overview of current tact interventions, their effectiveness, and the inclusion of intervention components that may promote maintenance and generalization of learned tacts in children with ASD. Fifty-one studies were included in the review. Of the studies that met criteria for effect size calculations 87.18% of the interventions showed excellent or high effect. Although many of the studies focused more on stimulus control to answer specific research questions, some studies implemented intervention components and procedures that could promote acquisition and generalization of learned tacts in children with ASD. We discuss implications and the need to increase research regarding tact intervention components that can increase generalization in children with ASD.

MARCOS DO COMPORTAMENTO VERBAL E INTERVENÇÃO COMPORTAMENTAL INTENSIVA EM TRIGÊMEOS COM AUTISMO

RESUMO O Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo é caracterizado por dificuldades em comunicação e interação social e interesses e comportamentos restritos, repetitivos e estereotipados. A intervenção comportamental intensiva tem trazido resultados promissores na intervenção com esse público. O objetivo foi verificar os efeitos do ensino de múltiplos operantes verbais no desenvolvimento de repertórios em trigêmeos dentro do espectro com 3 anos e 6 meses de idade no início do estudo. A intervenção durou 12 meses, num total de oito horas semanais, e foi planejada de acordo com dados da primeira avaliação. Foi utilizado o delineamento de pré e pós testes. Os resultados indicaram que a intervenção foi efetiva, sendo que o participante com menor comprometimento adquiriu mais repertórios. A diferença dos resultados indica que os ganhos obtidos não foram em função da passagem do tempo, mas indica uma relação com os repertórios iniciais e com o número de programas aplicados.

Interventions Targeting Expressive Communication in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

Purpose The aims of this systematic review are to (a) synthesize the literature on interventions targeting expressive communication in adults with autism spectrum disorder and (b) evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions. Method The literature search resulted in 7,196 articles. The research team used 2 reviewers and consensus for title/abstract review, full-text review, and quality review. To be included, studies had to (a) include at least 1 adult (18 years of age and above) with an autism spectrum disorder; (b) examine an intervention, treatment, or model of care; (c) provide outcome data related to expressive communication modalities/domains; (d) be experimental or quasi-experimental; and (e) be published in English. Twenty-two studies (14 single-case design and 8 group design), with a total of 256 participants and varied interventions and outcome variables, met criteria for inclusion. Effect sizes are presented for group design studies, and visual analysis results are outlined for single-case design studies. Results Examination of treatment effects in the included studies showed positive effects, overall; however, there was great variability between studies. Single-case design studies showed evidence of functional relations in all but 1 study, with most showing medium to large effects, as well as maintenance and generalization of gains. Group design studies showed a wide range of effects from near-zero to large effects. Differences in intervention strategies and durations, as well as in participant characteristics and outcome measures, presented barriers to aggregation. Conclusions This review highlights the need for increased high-quality research examining interventions targeting expressive communication in adults with autism spectrum disorder and also pinpoints interventions with potential for future study and use in this population.

The Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation: a Quantification of Language

Language is a much sought-after yet elusive subject matter for scientific investigation. Entire fields of study have evolved to address the complexities of language, with most using a structural analysis as the framework for examination. Skinner (Verbal Behavior, 1957) proposed that language fell within the scope of a science of behavior and was therefore open to functional analysis and interpretation. Over the past 60 years, much has been done to further the scientific explanation, prediction, and control of verbal behavior as a function of environmental variables. However, we still need to more accurately describe the subject matter of investigation. The stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE) is a metric to summarize a behavioral repertoire by comparing the relative frequency of its component parts. The verbal behavior SCoRE compares the observed proportions of responding against the null hypothesis to yield a statistic to describe the present level of functional performance. Such information may be useful for measuring change over time and comparing treatment effects within individuals and across groups. This article provides a conceptualization of the interdependence of the verbal operants identified by Skinner (1957), a model for analyzing the entirety of the verbal repertoire, and implications for research and practice.

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to tact olfactory stimuli

Research on tact acquisition by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has often focused on teaching participants to tact visual stimuli. It is important to evaluate procedures for teaching tacts of nonvisual stimuli (e.g., olfactory, tactile). The purpose of the current study was to extend the literature on secondary target instruction and tact training by evaluating the effects of a discrete-trial instruction procedure involving (a) echoic prompts, a constant prompt delay, and error correction for primary targets; (b) inclusion of secondary target stimuli in the consequent portion of learning trials; and (c) multiple exemplar training on the acquisition of item tacts of olfactory stimuli, emergence of category tacts of olfactory stimuli, generalization of category tacts, and emergence of category matching, with three children diagnosed with ASD. Results showed that all participants learned the item and category tacts following teaching, participants demonstrated generalization across category tacts, and category matching emerged for all participants.

Empirical Application of Skinner's Verbal Behavior to Interventions for Children with Autism: A Review

Sundberg and Michael (2011) reviewed the contributions of Skinner's (1957) Verbal Behavior to the treatment of language delays in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and discussed several aspects of interventions, including mand training, intraverbal repertoire development, and the importance of using Skinner's taxonomy of verbal behavior in the clinical context. In this article, we provide an update of Sundberg and Michael's review and expand on some discussion topics. We conducted a systematic review of studies that focused on Skinner's verbal operants in interventions for children with ASD that were published from 2001 to 2017 and discussed the findings in terms of journal source, frequency, and type of verbal operant studied.

Evaluating the Emergence of Reverse Intraverbals in Children with Autism

Verbal behavior plays a fundamental role in the development of complex social and communication skills. Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder exhibit profound deficiencies in intraverbal repertoires and the development of social relationships. Recent studies that investigated the effects of intraverbal training on the emergence of reverse intraverbals produced mixed results (e.g., Perez-Gonzalez et al., Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 40:697-701, 2007)). In the current study, a multiple-probe design across four participants with autism was used to evaluate the effects of intraverbal training on the emergence of reverse intraverbals. Intraverbal training consisted of multiple exemplars taught concurrently, bidirectional stimulus-response teaching formats, general case analysis, reinforcement, and a constant prompt delay (CPD) procedure. Participants were trained on intraverbal targets and probes were conducted to assess emergence of untaught reverse intraverbals. Three participants demonstrated the emergence of reverse intraverbals as a result of the intraverbal training procedures. Social validity and maintenance of target responses and emergent reverse intraverbals were assessed.

Single-case experimental designs: a systematic review of published research and current standards

This article systematically reviews the research design and methodological characteristics of single-case experimental design (SCED) research published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2010. SCEDs provide researchers with a flexible and viable alternative to group designs with large sample sizes. However, methodological challenges have precluded widespread implementation and acceptance of the SCED as a viable complementary methodology to the predominant group design. This article includes a description of the research design, measurement, and analysis domains distinctive to the SCED; a discussion of the results within the framework of contemporary standards and guidelines in the field; and a presentation of updated benchmarks for key characteristics (e.g., baseline sampling, method of analysis), and overall, it provides researchers and reviewers with a resource for conducting and evaluating SCED research. The results of the systematic review of 409 studies suggest that recently published SCED research is largely in accordance with contemporary criteria for experimental quality. Analytic method emerged as an area of discord. Comparison of the findings of this review with historical estimates of the use of statistical analysis indicates an upward trend, but visual analysis remains the most common analytic method and also garners the most support among those entities providing SCED standards. Although consensus exists along key dimensions of single-case research design, and researchers appear to be practicing within these parameters, there remains a need for further evaluation of assessment and sampling techniques and data analytic methods.

Publication trends in the analysis of verbal behavior: 1999-2008

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB) publishes experimental and theoretical papers relevant to a behavioral analysis of language. Normand, Fossa, and Poling (2000) reviewed the published studies in TAVB across several dimensions and found that despite the growth of the journal, most articles published in TAVB from 1982 to 1998 were nonexperimental. The current study extends this review by analyzing articles published in TAVB from 1999 through 2008. Results showed that 48% of the articles published between 1999 and 2008 were experimental (65% in the last 4 years), 93% of them used within-subject experimental designs, and most of them (54%) included children with developmental disabilities. This suggests an increased interest in the experimental analysis of verbal behavior with a focus on teaching language to individuals with disabilities.